American McGee's Twas Brillig
by Corvus no Genmu
Summary: She should have expected him to come and see her, all the others had already, but this was one Wonderlander she never expected to speak with ever again. Nor did she ever wish to for that matter. Original & Revised edition.
1. Original

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**_DISCLAIMER: OWN THIS VERSION OF THE JABBERWOCK._**

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"**Twas Brillig"**

By Corvus no no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

She had expected another to come to see her, many have already come, even those you didn't harm her but helped her in her quest to reincarnate Wonderland to its former and true glory. The Cheshire Cat was the first, as strange as it sounded, then came the Mad Hatter with the Duchess following soon afterwards. The Tweedles came next, as did the White Rabbit even though he had died helping her in Wonderland. The Griffon and the Mock Turtle, ever the delightfully singing pair, came next, one apologizing for his cowardice and the other for failing her. Even the Red Queen herself had come, more into her tears than any of the others, pleading for some way to apologize to Alice for the crimes she had committed while she was a monster. Alice had forgiven her just like she had the others, what had happened had happened, the past was exactly what it was, the past. There was no need to dwell on it anymore.

However, despite the many characters that had come to both apologize and thank her, she had never once expected _him_ to come. If she had, she would have done everything in her power to prevent him from coming. She could send him back even now but she was… curious as to why he chose to come here on his own free will.

He was sitting down before the fire, staring into its crimson depths with his arms crossed across his heavily muscled chest, and his spiked tail curled around him as though holding up an invisible shield separating him from her. His eyes burned much like the fire before him while his ivory fangs glistened in the light. These things, she was familiar with, but not the rest. For instead of larges wings of metal alloy, there was flesh and bone. Instead of a torso covered with wires and metal platting, there was skin covered by a sleeveless tunic with a simple vest overlapping it, both of which were different shades of red albeit both were quite far from the shade of blood much to Alice's relief. Turning his head slightly, Alice saw that his right eye, the one she had used to complete the staff of his namesake, was covered by a black eye patch with the letter 'A' written in deep red ink on it. His arms were heavily muscled as were his dinosaurian legs. His coloring had softened to a light orange with the occasional red stripe while his spikes had changed from black to a glittering gold.

Snorting a puff of smoke from his nostrils, he uncrossed his arms and placed his clawed hands on his knees while the talons on his scaly toes dug into the carpet slightly. " Alice…" his voice echoed the same contempt he had shown her when they had met for the first time in the Land of Fire and Brimstone.

"Jabberwock," her voice matching his voice's contempt. Silence followed for some time until the large dragon snorted once more.

"Well?" he asked, his eye leaving the fireplace.

"Well, what?" The Jabberwock's eye flicked towards her two before returning back to glare into the fire.

"Aren't you going to demand that I get out? Go back to the hellhole that I crawled from and all that?" Alice sat down in one of the few chairs that faced both the fireplace and the Jabberwock and folded her hands neatly across her lap.

"Actually, I'm rather curious as to why you're here at all." Jabberwock snorted once more.

"I see that some things never change."

"I suppose, but I can't really say the same for you now can I?" The Jabberwock stiffened before turning to glare with his one eye at the young woman.

"And whose fault would that be? I certainly had no choice in the matter," growled the Jabberwock. Alice remained silent and waited for the beast to say what he wanted, if that was even why he was here. The Jabberwock was stubborn though, and remained silent for quite some time. Alice had begun to think that the dragon had fallen asleep when he suddenly asked, "You know what I hate?"

"I believe that you'll tell me," said Alice calmly. The Jabberwock ignored her sarcasm and continued speaking, purple smoke slowly floating upwards from his nostrils.

"I hate how _you _let Wonderland become that nightmare, how _you_ and your _insanity_ transformed us into demons of the deepest Hell, even those with little or no evil in their hearts. How, because of _you_ and that _damnable_ Gryphon, I had lost my _eye_ so that you could attain another weapon of power so that your bloodbath could continue. How I had been forced to live in the Devil's company for _years_ while you stayed in that asylum. I hate how I was forced to fight and kill the Gryphon, how I had to recall every damn moment of your descent into insanity every second of every day that you were in Rutledge." By now, the entire ceiling was covered in purple smoke and Alice was silently glad that her guardian had attained a home far from prying eyes and with plenty of windows that they could keep open without fear of burglary.

"I hate how people look at me now with a deeper fear than before I become that cybertronic demon. I hate how those far weaker than me were able to stave off the insanity and keep themselves remotely normal while I succumbed to it and became even more of a monster! I hate how you made me to represent your fears, your guilt, EVERYTHING that you _hated_ and _loathed_ about your very being!

"I hate knowing you better than even the Cheshire Cat, I hate seeing your goddamn nightmares and growing stronger because of them, and I hate your damn _generosity_ of giving me a chance at life like everyone else! I hate how you had to endure your private Hell, struggle to survive in one, and kill your way through the Ultimate Hell! I HATE IT ALL!" roared the Jabberwock, his tail trashing wildly as his claws clutched his knees so tightly, that blood was pouring in small streams down to the floor. Alice could only stare in wide-eyed disbelief as the dragon continued his ranting.

"But the one thing I hate above everything else, the one thing that makes my fires burn even hotter than when I was that _demon_… Is that, no matter how much I _want to_, no matter how _hard_ _I try_, no matter how much I know that everything that I am is _your_ fault, I can _never_ hate you," the Jabberwock's voice cracked slightly and he turned his head to stare at Alice, a stream of tears flowing from his only remaining eye.

"_Why_…?" he pleaded to Alice, "Why didn't you just keep me dead? To torture me more? To punish me for sins that I never wanted to commit? Why can't you hurt me like everyone else? _Why?_" the Jabberwock couldn't hold back his tears anymore and broke down in silent sobs. Alice stared for a moment before slowly standing up and, breathing a soft sigh, made her way over to the crying Jabberwock. Carefully placing her hands on the soft skin under his chin, Alice raised the Jabberwock's head so that she could look into his eye, but he wouldn't meet his eye with her own. Thinking back, Alice never really recalled the Jabberwock ever looking her in the eye before, not even when they were literally at each other's throats.

Slowly, so as not to startle the sobbing dragon, Alice raised her left hand and slowly lifted it to the Jabberwock's eye patch, not failing to notice how the former demon had his breath held tight in his furnace-like lungs. Alice kept her hand above the eye patch for but a moment's time before slowly raising it up. What she saw caused her to gasp in horror, even though she had seen plenty of it in the Hell that Wonderland had become. Alice had expected to see a healed scar, but, instead, saw one that couldn't have been more than a few days old. Looking closer, Alice realized that the slash mark was far too large to be that of the Gryphon's own, and though the Gryphon was not much larger than the Jabberwock, there were few creatures that could create such a horrible scar.

And one of them was currently sitting before her.

"Jabberwock… Did you…" Jabberwock gently ripped his head away from Alice's soft hands, being mindful of his sharp spikes, and turned his head so that the emerald-eyed beauty could only see his good eye.

"I… deserved to die, I still do but you… you won't let me… I've tried so many times already… and I keep waking up good as new… So… I felt it only fitting to lose that which you had taken once before already…" Alice was stunned into silence by this and chose to merely stare at the creature that she had but previously thought of as the worst creature in existence, Wonderland or not. Slowly releasing her breath, Alice closed her eyes and concentrated her power just like the Cheshire Cat taught her. There was a flash of neon purple light and a startled gasp from the Jabberwock. Alice slowly opened her green eyes to meet not one but _two_ red ones, both of which were wide in surprise before drooping back into sadness.

"You… really do hate me don't you…? Is that why you healed my eye? So that I could rip it out again…?" Alice shook her head silently and, after taking Jabberwock's snout gently in her hands, pulled his face closer.

"No Jabberwock… I never really met you until now so I could never really hate you… Because I never knew the _real_ you… The you that hid behind a tough façade of aloofness and anger when you were really lonely and sad… The you that simply wanted what everyone wants… A friend…" Alice softly stroked the underside of Jabberwock's jaw, smiling at the soft purr that emanated from his throat. "You don't have to punish yourself, Jabberwock… It was my fault that Wonderland became that awful place, I've accepted that… But… I've also accepted that the past is just that, there is no need to dwell on past misdeeds… Don't continue to hurt yourself for something that's in the past Jabberwock…"

" Alice… You make it sound so easy… but… I can't just forget the past… especially not your own… I saw everything Alice… _Everything_… the fire… your parents… your descent to insanity… what that hellhole put you through… what _Wonderland_ put you through…… What _I_ put you through…"

"Jabberwock… it's okay… You had no control over what happened here or in Wonderland…"

"Yes I did! I could have come here like the Cheshire Cat or White Rabbit! I could have struggled to remain myself like the Mock Turtle or Gryphon! I could have done _something_ Alice! Anything to help you but I… I couldn't… I was too weak…" Alice placed a hand on the Jabberwock's jaw, ceasing the dragon's self-beration.

"Jabberwock… It's okay… What happened to you… it couldn't be helped… Everything's okay now…"

"No it's not! You don't understand! I saw your thoughts, your feelings, everything! The entire time I was that-that _monster_ I saw into your mind and heart! I saw how much you despised me and-" Jabberwock cut himself off when he saw the moisture in Alice's eyes. "Oh god… you… you don't hate me…" Alice nodded, hoping that her feelings would lift the Jabberwock from his sea of despair. Alas, such feeling served to only drown the dragon deeper into the ocean he himself had created.

"WHY!" he roared, not angrily but hysterically, backing away from Alice as though her gentle touch had burned him. He didn't stop backing away from the young brunette until his back and tail collided roughly with the wall opposite of the fireplace. "WHY DON'T YOU HATE ME!"

"Because… I am as much a part of you as you are of me…" Alice smiled slightly, "And only mad people hate themselves…" The young brunette carefully walked over to the trembling Jabberwock and carefully placed her hand on top of his flaring nose. "Jabberwock, I never met you until tonight. True we fought and threw harsh words against each other," the Jabberwock visibly winced and tried to back away from Alice once more but the wall was steadfast and unyielding.

"But that wasn't you and now that I have met the real you, I have a _very_ different opinion than before," Alice patted Jabberwock's nose softly, "Look into me Jabberwock," she said-no commanded- to the dragon, "Look and see how I see you." Jabberwock looked like he'd rather do anything but that, but he did so anyway albeit with the greatest of reluctance. The silence stretched for what seemed like hours as the Jabberwock slowly opened the gate that separated his mind from Alice's own. However, the silence was ended by a strangled yelp from the Jabberwock who, in a moment of sheer surprise, had attempted to stand thus causing his head to collide with the ceiling.

"You… you… _accept_ me… You actually accept me… and… _like_ me… Oh my scales and spiky horns…" whispered an awed Jabberwock. Alice merely smiled and nodded, her smile increasing at the sight of the Jabberwock's own growing one. In fact, Jabberwock's grin did not cease to grow until it very well resembled the Cheshire Cat's own, before the Descension of course. Alice arched an eyebrow to show her surprise but chose to remain silent. At least, she remained silent until a bright flash of light nearly blinded her and a pair of arms nearly crushed her ribs in a fierce hug.

Blinking away the dancing spots before her eyes, Alice looked down to see that the person hugging her had lifted her slightly into the air because of his rather tall stature. The emerald-eyed maiden looked into the man's eyes and asked, "Jabberwock?" The man merely smiled and set her down gently and stood before her silently.

He had the same sleeveless tunic and vest like Jabberwock and a pair of brown slacks, furthering his look to match that of a pirate. His hair was like fire and stuck out in such a way that it resembled spikes more than human hair. His red goatee was similar to his hair albeit a bit softer looking. Looking up, the man was easily a foot taller than her even though they were both the same age, Alice looked into his eyes and saw that, though more human than reptilian, they resembled Jabberwock's own perfectly.

"Thank you, Alice… Thank you…" murmured Jabberwock, hugging her tightly once more, his eyes closed, quite literally, to the fact that Alice was blushing a matching shade to his hair.

"It… it was nothing Jabberwock…" stuttered Alice, shuddering slightly as the Jabberwock moved so that his mouth hovered above her ear.

" Alice… though you have accepted me… have you accepted who _you_ are?" Alice shivered, though not unpleasantly, from Jabberwock's warm breath flowing past her ear and neck.

"Wh-What do you mean…?"

"I mean, that you are as much a part of Wonderland as the rest of us. Your own world awaits you Alice, when you're ready for it," said Jabberwock, backing away from Alice as his body began to slowly fade away. "Everyone will be there waiting for you… as will I… to welcome you… _home_…" Jabberwock's last word echoed around the room. Alice stared at the space Jabberwock had just seconds ago stood in before slowly making her way back to her chair and slowly sitting down in it, thinking over the past-what was it now? Fifteen minutes? How could so many things change in so little time?

Alice sighed softly and looked down to spot a palm-sized scale that the Jabberwock must have dropped when he had tried to back away from her just five minutes ago. Hesitantly, and quite unsurely, Alice bent over and picked up the small orange scale and stared at it for a few minutes in silence as the flames of the fireplace crackled before her. A soft smile slowly grew on her pale face before she took a piece of parchment from the table next to her as well as a quill to write a very simple message that may cause people who knew little of her much grief and panic, but not her guardian. After all, who understood Alice Liddel better than her guardian and best _normal _friend Charles Dodgson? Alice smiled softly at the note and left it where she knew her guardian would find it before she slowly walked out the door and into a world of dreams, old and new friends, and the waiting arms of a rather shy dragon.

What was the message that she had left her dear guardian, a message that only he could truly understand while others could not? It was a simple message really, both in its words and its meaning though, to many, its true meaning was far beyond their sane comprehension. Though to the minds of the mad and those quite near it, it made absolutely perfect sense.

"_I'm going home._"


	2. Revised

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**_A/N: THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER. THIS A REVISED, AND MORE GAME-ORIENTATED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL ONE-SHOT._**

**_DISCLAIMER: OWN THIS VERSION OF THE JABBERWOCK._**

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Twas Brillig

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

She had expected another to come and visit her, many had already come and gone with the wind, even those who didn't harm her but helped her in her quest to restore the Wonderland to its former and true glory. The Cheshire Cat was the first then came the Mad Hatter with the Duchess following soon afterwards. The Tweedles came next, as did the White Rabbit even though he had died helping guide her through the nightmare that was Wonderland. The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, ever the delightfully singing pair, came next, one apologizing for his cowardice and the other for failing her as her best soldier. Even the Red Queen herself had come, more into her tears than any of the others, pleading for some way to apologize to Alice for the crimes she had committed while she was the monster that Alice's insanity had made her out to be. Alice had forgiven her just like she had the others, what had happened had happened, the past was exactly what it was, the past. There was no need to dwell on it anymore.

However, despite the many characters that had come to both apologize and thank her, she had never once expected _him_ to come. If she had, she would have done everything in her power to prevent him from coming. She could send him back even now but she was… curious as to why he chose to come here on his own free will.

He was sitting down before the fire, staring into its crimson depths with his arms crossed across his bony chest, and his organic tail curled around him as though holding up an invisible shield separating him from her. His eyes burned much like the fire before him while his ivory tusks glistened in the light. These things, she was familiar with, but not the rest. For instead of larges wings of metal alloy, there was flesh and bone. Instead of a torso covered with wires and metal plateing, there was skin and scale. Turning his head slightly, Alice saw that his right eye, the one she had used to complete the staff of his namesake, was covered by a black eye patch with the letter 'A' written in deep red ink on it. His arms were long and bony as were his dinosaurian legs, and his claws were still absurdly large. His coloring had darkened to a healthier shade of emerald while his spikes had changed from blackened metal to a ivory bone.

Snorting a puff of smoke from his nostrils, he turned back to face the burning fire before him while the talons on his scaly toes dug into the carpet slightly. "Hello, man-child…" his voice echoed the same contempt he had shown her when they had met for the first time in the Land of Fire and Brimstone.

"Hello, Jabberwock," her voice matching his voice's contempt. Silence followed for some time until the large dragon snorted once more.

"Well?" he asked, his eye, though still pupiless, never left the fireplace.

"Well, what?" The Jabberwock's head flicked towards her before turning back to glare into the orange-tinted fire.

"Aren't you going to demand that I get out? Go back to the hellhole that I crawled from and all that?" Alice sat down in one of the few chairs that faced both the fireplace and the Jabberwock and folded her hands neatly across her lap.

"Actually, I'm rather curious as to why you're here at all." Jabberwock snorted once more and growled as thin streams of smoke wafted upwards from his nose.

"I see that some things never change."

"I suppose, but I can't really say the same for you now can I?" The Jabberwock stiffened before turning his long neck to glare with his one eye at the young woman.

"And whose fault would that be? I certainly had no choice in the matter," growled the Jabberwock. Alice remained silent and waited for the beast to say what he wanted, if that was even why he was here. The Jabberwock was stubborn though, and remained silent for quite some time. Alice had begun to think that the dragon had fallen asleep when he suddenly asked, "You know what I hate?"

"I believe that you'll tell me," said Alice calmly. The Jabberwock ignored her sarcasm and continued speaking, purple smoke slowly floating upwards from his nostrils.

"I hate how you **_let_** Wonderland become that nightmare, how **_you_** and your **_insanity_** transformed us into demons of the deepest Hell in either mind or body, or even a combination of the two. How, because of **_you_** and that **_damnable_** Gryphon, I had lost my **_eye_** so that you could attain another weapon for your bloodbath to continue only to face she whom even I would hesitate in fighting. How I had been forced to live in the Devil's company for **_years_** while you stayed in that asylum. I hate how I have to recall every damn moment of your descent into insanity every second of every day that you were in Rutledge." By now, the entire ceiling was covered in smoke and Alice was silently glad that her guardian had attained a home far from prying eyes and with plenty of windows that they could keep open without fear of burglary.

"I hate how people look at me now with a deeper fear than before I become that cybertronic monster. I hate how those far weaker than me were able to stave off the insanity and keep themselves remotely normal while I succumbed to it and became even more of a monster! I hate how you made me to represent your fears, your guilt, EVERYTHING that you **_hated_** and **_loathed_** about your very being!

"I hate knowing you better than even the Cheshire Cat. I hate your damn **_generosity_** of giving me a chance at life like everyone else! I HATE IT ALL!" roared the Jabberwock, standing now with claws just twitching to be within reach of her neck. Alice could only look at the dragon with no emotion, which only served to anger him further.

"But the one thing… the absolute one thing I hate even more than **_you_**… Is that, no matter how much I **_want to_**, no matter how **_hard_ _I try_**, no matter how much I know that everything that I am is **_your_** fault, I can **_never_** kill you."

She raised an eyebrow at that. Her she was, alone and weaponless in a home already filled with smoke and could easily be burned to ash, and he was telling her that he couldn't kill her? "Why? Are you afraid of me, Jabberwock?"

A primordial roar ripped through the mansion as the Jabberwock snatched Alice up like a ragdoll and shook her angrily, sparks of flame exiting from his mouth. His tail trashed behind him, knocking over a table and several of the chairs over while his wings were spread wide and twitching for the freedom of flight, but he would not run this time!

"You don't get it do you, you unnatural **_child_**? The Queen of Hearts, that bitch of Red and Crimson, may have been the darkness of your soul, but I was and still am your heart! Nothing about me has changed since your so called reclaim of sanity! I am still a creature of rage, loathing, and guilt. I feed off your self-doubts and wash myself in your tears of sadness. I grow stronger from your guilt and revel in it! You changed everything! You changed Wonderland and its denizens, and even brought the dead back from the grave, but you didn't change me. You didn't change me…" He dropped her ungraciously to the floor and turned his back on her, sinking to his knees with his wings wrapped tightly about his thin frame.

Alice stared for a moment before slowly standing up and, breathing a soft sigh, made her way over to the silently fuming Jabberwock. Carefully placing her hands on the soft skin of his wings, Alice pressed them open to see the Jabberwock's lowered head so that she could look into his eye, but his wouldn't meet with her own. Thinking back, Alice never really recalled the Jabberwock ever looking her in the eye before, not even when they were literally at each other's throats.

Slowly, so as not to anger the tempermental dragon, Alice raised her left hand and slowly lifted it to the Jabberwock's eye patch, not failing to notice how the former demon had his breath held tight in his furnace-like lungs. Alice kept her hand above the eye patch for but a moment's time before slowly raising it up. What she saw caused her to gasp in horror, even though she had seen plenty of it in the Hell that Wonderland had become. Alice had expected to see a healed scar at the very least, but instead saw one that couldn't have been more than a few days old. Looking closer, Alice realized that the slash mark was far too large to be that of the Gryphon's own, and though the Gryphon was not much larger than the Jabberwock, there were few creatures that could create such a horrible scar.

And one of them was currently sitting before her.

"Jabberwock… Did you…" Jabberwock ripped his head away from Alice's soft hands and stood once more to turn his back to her.

"… I… deserved to die," He choked on the word 'deserved' but continued, "I still do but you won't… **_let_** me… I've tried so many times already, but your damnable law of death being barred from all of Wonderland… I keep awaking to find myself as good as new… So I felt it only fitting to lose that which you had taken once before already…"

Alice was stunned into silence by this and chose to merely stare at the creature that she had but previously thought of as the worst creature in existence, Wonderland or not. Slowly releasing her breath, Alice closed her eyes and concentrated her power just like the Cheshire Cat taught her. There was a flash of neon purple light and a startled gasp from the Jabberwock. Alice slowly opened her green eyes to meet not one but _two_ red ones, both of which were wide in surprise before narrowing into thin slits.

"It's not enough for you to hear it, is it?" Before Alice could question what he meant, the Jabberwock reached up to his eye and slashed it from its socket with a single swipe of his large claw. The ruptured eye splattered against the carpeted floor before burning into ash on the wind. Clutching the bleeding wound with his already bloodied hand, the Jabberwock chuckled at Alice's gasp of shock. "I told you… I deserve this…"

"No one deserves such a thing, not even you." Alice focused her power once more, but instead of returning his eye, the emerald-eyed girl healed the wound to the point where it looked decades old. Jabberwock lowered his blood-soaked hand and nodded.

"You are learning." He lowered his head until they were eye-to-eyes. "But how much have you really learned since my death?"

There was no pause in her answer. "It was my fault that Wonderland became that awful place, I've accepted that… But… I've also accepted that the past is just that, there is no need to dwell on past misdeeds… Don't continue to hurt yourself for something that's in the past Jabberwock…"

"I will do as I please when I please, just as you made me to be." The Jabberwock growled and stood upright once more. "Do not think yourself Queen yet, child. You are not yet aware of it yet."

Alice tilted her head in confusion. "Aware of what?"

"Why do you think I came her, stupid man-child? To exchange in small talk and to have pleasantry of ripping out my eye once more? No, I came here… to see…"

"See what exactly?" she asked.

"To see if the words spread throughout the Wonderland were true, that have forgiven they who hindered you at every corner. Even the Red Queen." Alice was silent for a long moment. There was more to this than what Jabberwock was saying, that much she was certain of, but as to the truth of his being here… She sincerely doubted it would be for that… but, if it was what he wanted to hear, she would not deny him the truth.

"I don't hate you."

Jabberwock stiffened and stared at her, his mouth hanging loosely while his wings were spread to their maximum. For the first time in his life, even those seven that came before, the Jabberwock was at a loss for words. "What…" He swallowed, why was his mouth suddenly dry? "What did you say…?"

"I don't hate you, Jabberwock." Alice repeated. "Because I am as much a part of you as you are of me…" Alice smiled slightly, "And only mad people hate themselves…" The young brunette carefully walked over to the trembling Jabberwock and carefully placed her hand on top of his own. "Jabberwock, I never met you until tonight. True we fought and threw harsh words against each other," the Jabberwock visibly winced from the contact of her hand upon his bloodied claw and tried to back away from Alice once more but the wall was steadfast and unyielding.

"But that wasn't you and now that I have met the real you, the you who comes to the one whom he claims to hate but cannot kill, she owed him everything for what she had unwittling done to him… I have a very different opinion about you than before," Alice patted Jabberwock's hand softly, "Look into me Jabberwock," she said to the dragon, "Look and see how I see you." Jabberwock looked like he'd rather do anything but that, but he did so anyway albeit with the greatest of reluctance, and slight hint of disgust. The silence stretched for what seemed like hours as the Jabberwock slowly opened the gate that separated his mind from Alice's own. However, the silence was ended by a strangled growl from the Jabberwock who, in a moment of sheer surprise, had attempted to fly away thus causing his head to collide with the ceiling.

"You… you… **_accept_** me… You actually accept me…" whispered Jabberwock. Alice merely smiled and nodded, her smile increasing at the sight of the Jabberwock's shocked face. Blinking, Jabberwock shook his head and turned away in a huff, crossing his long arms across his chest.

"I guess it is true then." Jabberwock growled. "Damn it all, there'll be no living with that damned feline after this."

"What do you mean? What has Cheshire said about me?" The Jabberwock snarled angrily.

"Will you ever lose that damn curiousity, brat?" The Jabberwock snorted a puff of smoke before Alice could answer. "Of course not. You wouldn't be you otherwise." The emerald-scaled dragon sighed irritably before uncrossing his arms and leaning down once more. When he spoke, his breath, which smelled of cinnamon spice, much to Alice's surprise and confusion, flowed past her face, warming her and sending pleasant tingles down her spine.

"Though you have accepted me, bratling… have you accepted who **_you_** are?" Alice shivered, though not unpleasantly, from Jabberwock's warm breath flowing past her ear and neck.

"Wh-What do you mean…?"

"I mean, that you are as much a part of Wonderland as the rest of us. Your own world awaits you when you're ready for it," said Jabberwock, backing away from Alice as his body began to slowly fade away. "Everyone will be there waiting for you… to welcome you home… We'll be waiting for you… **_Alice_**…" Jabberwock's last word echoed around the room. Alice stared at the space Jabberwock had just seconds ago stood in before slowly making her way to one of the few undamaged chairs and slowly sat down upon it, thinking over the past-what was it now? Fifteen minutes? How could so many things change in so little time?

Alice sighed softly and looked down to spot a palm-sized scale that the Jabberwock must have lost when he had torn his eye out on his own volition. Hesitantly, and quite unsurely, Alice bent over and picked up the small emerald scale and stared at it for a few minutes in silence as the flames of the fireplace crackled beside her. A soft smile slowly grew on her pale face before she took a piece of parchment from the table next to her as well as a quill to write a very simple message that may cause people who knew little of her much grief and panic, but not her guardian. After all, who understood Alice Liddel better than her guardian and best mundane friend Charles Dodgson? Alice smiled softly at the note and left it where she knew her guardian would find it before she slowly walked out the door and into a world of dreams, old and, surprisingly, new friends.

What was the message that she had left her dear guardian, a message that only he could truly understand while others could not? It was a simple message really, both in its words and its meaning though, to many, its true meaning was far beyond their sane comprehension. Though to the minds of the mad and those quite near it, it made absolutely perfect sense.

"_I'm going home._"


End file.
